


Cold Making Warmth a Divine Intervention

by hesterbyrde



Series: Friendship is Unnecessary [7]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Blow Jobs, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Bucky loves Christmas, Christmas, Christmas Cookies, Christmas Eve, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Music, Christmas Presents, Christmas Smut, Christmas fic, Multi, Oral Sex, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Rough Sex, Teasing, Threesome - F/M/M, Wakanda (Marvel), but not super bad rough or anything
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-19
Updated: 2018-12-19
Packaged: 2019-09-22 15:55:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17062652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hesterbyrde/pseuds/hesterbyrde
Summary: "Christmas is Steve's favorite holiday." Bucky said brightly, as if that explained anything. "His absolute favorite holiday. Every year back in Brooklyn, he'd drag me to Mass, but then we'd go to Rockefeller Center and see the ice skaters, and go walk down Fifth Avenue and see all the decorations. Even though his lungs were never good in the cold, he  loved walking around the city at Christmas time. And he and Natasha will be back on the twenty fourth! In time for Christmas! But we've got a couple of weeks yet. If we hurry, we- you are going to help me, right?""We don't even celebrate Christmas in Wakanda, Bucky! WHAT are we doing!?" she half shouted even as a delightfully exasperated smile tickled both her face and her voice."Christmas!" Bucky said with a grin of his own. "Cookies and hot chocolate and popcorn strings and presents and… Christmas, Shuri! Christmas!"





	Cold Making Warmth a Divine Intervention

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Holidays everyone!
> 
> One of my favorite writing indulgences is Christmas fic. I'm a musician so I'm already inundated with Christmas music by early October, and I find myself wanting to get excited about the season far ahead of schedule... so it's nice to have an outlet.
> 
> This is a stand-alone installment of my series "Friendship is Unnecessary." You don't have to have read the rest of the series to be able to enjoy this one. It's not plot heavy at all... just a post-Civil War, Wakandan holiday romp featuring an overly excited Bucky, some sweets and presents, and a heavy dose of filth right at the end.
> 
> The title of the fic is taken from Vienna Teng's song "The Atheist Christmas Carol" which is actually a more serious song than the title belies. 
> 
> The song in the middle of the fic is of course, "I'll Be Home for Christmas" which was popular during World War 2.
> 
> Thank you to my beta readers KaminaDuck and musicnerd88! You guys really helped this sparkle. Thank you so so so much.
> 
> And thank you for reading! I'd love to hear back if you enjoyed it. Kudos and comments give me life.
> 
> Happy Holidays again everyone! Enjoy!

Bucky rarely went up to the royal palace anymore. Once his check ups in Shuri's lab had ceased to be a daily necessity, he'd chosen to move away from the city proper to one of the outlying farms that dotted the rolling hills surrounding the capital. It wasn't out of dislike or discomfort. Truth be told, he sort of thought that he might come back to the city eventually. Maybe if Steve ever stayed longer than a week (not that he grudged him his crusade), but for now Bucky welcomed the seclusion and the quiet. He didn't talk about it much to Steve or Natasha or even to Shuri, but he was still discovering new pieces of the puzzle in his head. New memories… good and bad. And seeing as that was the case, it was nice to have a little peace and routine to shore him up as he sorted it all out. Especially now that his rediscovered memories seemed to vastly outnumber the ones he was still missing.

The goat farms out in the grassy, half-forested hills reminded him of the farm in upstate New York that the orphanage boys were sent to every summer. It was little more than free labor for a local farm and free child-care for the orphanage thinly disguised as a summer camp, but he liked it all the same. It was better than bumming around the church all summer, constantly under the watchful eye of the nuns. A lot of the boys complained, but Bucky liked going to bed with that bone deep ache of a hard day's work. Plus if he could finagle his way onto their orchard, he could sneak a snack whenever he wanted. Now that he'd had time to really think about it, that was probably why he didn't mind the job at the docks in New York City either. Now that he could remember most of it...

So a Wakandan goat farm suited him just fine after everything that had transpired. It was nice to feel grounded again. And useful. Shuri had insisted he rest while he was out in the country, but that just made him even more restless, which to his mind was more counterproductive than overworking himself. Or at least that's how he justified ignoring her advice. It felt good to work, even with one arm missing. With something blessedly mundane to focus on, sorting through his thoughts and gradually re-forming memories was just that much easier. And more tolerable. It kept him from dwelling… from getting mired in the bad that was still coming back to him along with the good.

But there was enough good to be had. Memories of misspent youth and Steve's never ending quest to kick his own ass… they were more than a match for any of the atrocities that resurfaced from his time on HYDRA's leash. And enough good was all he could ask for really. Enough good, and a little space to think.

And the view out his front door was spectacular.

Bucky would return to the city of course, but only when Steve and Natasha were back from missions (though once, Natasha had surprised him and paid a visit to the farm). He would stay at the palace as long as they were there, but then he would go back to the farm as soon as they had taken off. Back to the farm with its routine and regimen, and where the loudest noise was the bleating of a particularly distressed nanny goat who was most upset that he wouldn't let her nibble on the already frayed edge of his tunic. 

Shuri still came and checked in, but even those visits had become more and more infrequent. First it was every few days. Then every week. Now it had stretched to nearly every two weeks. And as time went on, things became more perfunctory. At first her check ins were actual check ups. She'd usually bring a satchel of diagnostic tools and ask a bunch of the same questions, all while scribbling furiously on her tablet. But eventually there was less measurement and note-taking. There were fewer tools and scans and questions about what day it was and if he remembered certain events and people, and more questions about the goats, and what their plans were when the rainy season came, and things like that. Less a house call and more a social call.

He remarked about this to her one day and she just shrugged.

"Would you like me to ask you what day it is again? What city you grew up in? Your full name?" she teased wrinkling her nose with a laugh. "I will if it makes you feel more at home."

Bucky snorted and elbowed her. "Nah. I just think it's weird that you're still trekking all the way out here. I mean you clearly know I'm good, you know?"

"I like you." She said with a friendly elbow to the ribs. "Plus you're my family's guest. It would be rude of us not to check on you. And truth be told, Captain Rogers would be upset if I didn't keep an eye on you. I'll be honest, I fear that man's wrath and that of Ms. Romanoff far more than even my own mother's."

"Not your brother's?" he arched an eyebrow and pawed at the air. "With all the claws and-"

She puffed her cheeks and let out a sharp laugh. "Please. All I would need to do was call Nakia on the holo-chat and have her tell him he looked handsome. Or even just say hello. The dumbass would walk into a pillar and knock himself clean out. I've seen it happen. At a high council meeting no less. And I was the one who got in trouble with Mother because I couldn't stop laughing."

Bucky laughed himself at that. T'Challa was truly a hopeless case when it came to Nakia. Much like Bucky had been for Steve back in the day. And now. And now for Natasha too. Even just thinking about them made him a little swimmy-headed.

"Is the team still on that mission in Laos?" Bucky asked, following the thread of his thoughts.

"They are." she nodded. "They should be home on the twenty fourth."

Bucky's face drew up in a frown. _The twenty fourth. How many days away was that, anyway?_

It dawned on him that he really didn't know what day it was. Just that they would need to move the last batch of kids out to the big pen today or tomorrow, and it was also time to clean and scrape out the water troughs because it had been three days since-

"Geez… what day is it, actually? I don't remember the last time I looked at a calendar."

Shuri's face split with an amused grin. "Today's the first, actually."

"First of…"

"Wow, you are out of it. Maybe I _should_ be asking you-"

"Goats don't have calendars, doll." Bucky cut back, taking his turn to jab her playfully with an elbow.

She punched him in the arm then. "It's December."

"Hey, easy! I've only got one of those- wait December? It's December?"

She double checked her tablet. "As of today, yes."

"December… Wow." he breathed the word out as he looked around at the fields of green that surrounded him. Acres and acres of rolling hills tufted with waving palms and the greenest grass, all crowned with a summer-blue sky. He then looked down at his bare feet and thin tunic, only covered by the wrap that kept dirt and curious goats out of the bare socket of his shoulder. And he was actually hot, sitting in the sun. Sitting out in the sun December? No wonder he'd lost track of time.

In Brooklyn this time of year, or really anywhere he'd spent any time, he would have been bundled up in half the clothes that he owned. And Steve would have been wrapped up in _all_ of his clothes, plus whatever Bucky didn't need to survive a day at the docks with the blistering wind howling off the Hudson. There would be a foot of snow on the ground at least. And lights, and people shopping for Christmas, and-

"Holy shit, it's almost Christmas." The words rampaged out of his mouth.

Shuri pursed her lips rather passively. "Yeah, I guess it almost is." she remarked with a casual shrug.

Bucky jumped to his feet, eyes wide and stance taut. "And you said Steve and Natasha are coming back on the twenty fourth?"

"Yes…?" Shuri dragged the syllable out into the suggestion of a question.

He started to pace, gesturing wildly to himself. "That's… that's great! That's _perfect!_ That timing couldn't be better." He pivoted to her suddenly, making her jump. "Shuri, do I still have a room at the palace?"

She continued to frown with confusion. "We don't really get many visitors, Sergeant Barnes. So yes, your room is still yours. You guys have half that floor actually."

"I told you to call me Bucky."

"Then, _Bucky_ , you should tell me what on earth is going on! What are you planning?"

"Christmas is Steve's favorite holiday." Bucky said brightly, as if that explained anything. "His absolute _favorite_ holiday. Every year back in Brooklyn, he'd drag me to Mass, but then we'd go to Rockefeller Center and see the ice skaters, and go walk down Fifth Avenue and see all the decorations. Even though his lungs were never good in the cold, he _loved_ walking around the city at Christmas time. And he and Natasha will be back on the twenty fourth! In time for Christmas! But we've got a couple of weeks yet. If we hurry, we- you are going to help me, right?"

"We don't even celebrate Christmas in Wakanda, Bucky! WHAT are we doing!?" she half shouted even as a delightfully exasperated smile tickled both her face and her voice. 

"Christmas!" Bucky said with a grin of his own. "Cookies and hot chocolate and popcorn strings and presents and… Christmas, Shuri! Christmas! That's what we are doing! Come on!" And with that he grabbed her hand and started off towards her hovercraft.

***

Steve disembarked from the Quinjet at a gallop, hearing matching bootfalls from Natasha behind him. He knew without looking that she trailed him like a shadow. Just behind his shoulder -- always her position these days. Just off his left side. What used to be his shield side, back when he still carried it. The irony was not lost on him, and whether it was intentional or not, he appreciated it. 

They were a little later in arriving than they'd planned, having circumvented some choppy air over the Atlantic after they'd dropped off Wanda at Clint's for Christmas and Sam in Chicago to visit his mother. The latter was stickily worrying, but ultimately Steve trusted that Sam knew what he was doing. He was headed to Clint's after anyway to pick up Wanda and hop the pond again before the next mission hit.

There was always more to do. 

Speaking of which.

T'Challa, flanked by the Dora Milaje met him at the bottom of the ramp leading out of the hangar.

"Welcome back, Steve."

"Thank you, T'Challa." He extended his hand and the king clasped it before turning to greet Natasha as well.

"I take it you were successful."

"By some definition." Natasha replied. "We routed the HYDRA cell we knew about, but found a large amount of comm data onsite that indicated this cell was not isolated in the region."

"That is unfortunate but unsurprising given the history of HYDRA operations." T'Challa opined with a disappointed pull of his mouth. He gestured down the hangar walkway and they all fell into step together, headed towards the palace with the Dora Milaje fanned out behind them.

"Agreed." Steve replied. "But it's a step in the right direction. Hopefully, with this data we'll be able to uncover the rest of the cells. This compound seemed to be a communication hub, so they're inconvenienced at the very least until they can reroute."

"We'll have to decrypt this data first." Natasha said, holding up a hard drive between thumb and forefinger, cables trailing over her hand. "I could have done it in the field, but honestly… your sister is faster. Plus we can take advantage of this intel to retool and take on these new cells."

"So you plan on being here a few days?"

"That's the plan." Steve said. "Unless that's an imposition?"

"Not in the slightest." T'Challa shot them what could only be described as a mischief-maker's grin. "I think you'll find Sergeant Barnes is very eager to have you home for a few days."

Steve and Natasha exchanged sidelong looks with matching smirks as they walked. "I think he'll find the feeling is mutual."

"Once we drop the comm data off with Shuri, we'll head out to see him and be out of your hair." Natasha said.

"Oh, he is already here. " T'Challa replied.

"Already here?" Steve repeated with a surprised frown. Bucky had never beaten them to the palace before.

"He's been here since yesterday actually."

"Huh." Natasha grunted, shooting a look to Steve. "Guess he really is excited to see us."

"Well, we were gone a month this time. Totally dark." Steve shrugged. "And again… the feeling is mutual."

"Very mutual." Natasha agreed.

Once they hit the palace proper, T'Challa and his attendant Dora Milaje peeled off, presumably to take care of whatever matters of state remained for the day. Steve and Natasha headed upstairs to the sprawl of suites they shared in the palace guest quarters, very much looking forward to a shower. When they rounded the final corner, they noticed that the door to the suite that was technically Bucky's was slightly ajar, and warm light from within spilled out into the hallway. They both frowned at that. It was well after sunset. And Bucky was usually one for security, even more so than Natasha. Even in Wakanda. And this just seemed sloppy and very out of character.

Or it was an invitation?

They exchanged inquisitive looks briefly as Steve opted to knock, the touch of his knuckles making the door swing inward a little more. A waft of something richly familiar and sweet suffused the air through the doorway along with Bucky's voice.

"Come in! It's open." Bucky called from somewhere inside. It almost didn't even sound like him. Full of brightness and warmth. No shadows clinging to the rough patches.

There was another exchange of looks as they marked his tone. Steve pushed the door open with an arch of his eyebrow, and both he and Natasha nearly swayed on the spot at the sight that awaited them within.

The suite had been transformed. Everywhere hung strands of twinkling white lights. Over the balcony rails. Spanning the arches. Across the headboard. And where there weren't lights, there were strands of popcorn garland strung on bright red thread. And the grand display, the centerpiece, was the stone table in front of the sofa. It had been covered with mountains of presents, trays of pastries, and three empty mugs. Everywhere was the glint of ribbon, the rustle of paper, the smell of something delicious...

And there was music playing. Something instrumental and stately and familiar… if only it weren't so soft. Or if they both hadn't been so stunned...

Bucky stood at the far end of the room, wearing a white apron over bright red pajamas and a brilliant smile, fussing over a little pot on a hot plate that looked like something commandeered from Shuri's lab. He looked up when they arrived, the incandescent smile on his face rivaling the brightness of the twinkling strands of lights when he saw them gaping at his handiwork.

He abandoned his makeshift stove and bounded across the room, diving between them so they'd both catch him in a mutual embrace. All the shock melted as familiarity took its place: Steve tucked him against his chest, his broad arms reaching around them both while Natasha pushed her nose into his hair as she snugged Bucky's arm around her waist.

"Bucky… what the hell is this?" Steve asked, releasing them enough to look around at the beautiful lights again.

Bucky beamed up at them, all teeth and eyes that seemed to catch and reflect every glimmer in the room. "Merry Christmas!" he exclaimed, halfway to laughter.

"Holy shit, it _is_ Christmas!" Steve said, his eyes going a little wide with the realization. "Well, Christmas Eve, anyway."

"That's exactly what I said when Shuri told me you guys were coming home on Christmas Eve!" Bucky said. "I might have enlisted her help in some of the decorations."

"Like you always "enlisted" mine." Steve sniped back laying a kiss on the part of Bucky's hair, prompting Bucky in turn to lift his face to meet his lips. Natasha just clung to Bucky's back, feeling the three of them swaying together while she waited her turn for kisses. This was just as good in its own way; feeling them together and knowing she was a part of it. And her patience was rewarded when Bucky craned back to capture her mouth with his as well.

"Why don't you two go get a shower and get changed." Bucky suggested, though his tone was a little firm for it to be merely a suggestion. "I'm still working on something."

"Mmm… why?" Natasha hummed, her lips tickling the fine hair just behind his ear. She was gratified with an answering shiver.

"Because I have plans and one of those plans is going to boil over on the hotplate if I don't get back to it." Bucky said as firmly as he could manage around the elated smile on his face. "Shower. Then we can have presents."

"Presents? There's presents?" Steve said, gaping a little.

"Of course there's presents, punk!" Bucky replied, beaming. "It's Christmas!"

"But… I didn't-"

"We didn't-"

Bucky cut both Natasha and Steve off with a wave of his hand. "You were undercover in Laos for a month. And you both smell like it. Shower. Go." He ordered, wriggling free and gesturing towards the bathroom.

Steve and Natasha let Bucky shoo them off to the shower before he turned back to whatever he was doing with the pot on the hotplate. After the door closed behind them, Natasha turned to Steve to help him with his tac suit. The buckles were just easier with another set of hands.

"Steve?" His name was a question as she worked.

"Yeah, Nat?"

"What the fuck is happening?" she asked shooting him a bewildered grin as she tugged the last buckle free before turning for him to undo the buckles on her suit as well. It was a dance they danced time and time again. Especially over the last month.

"I… it's Christmas." Steve shrugged as he worked. "It was always Bucky's favorite holiday. God, he'd get so excited every year. He'd save pennies so he could make it special… pull extra shifts at the dock so we could have hot chocolate and presents. He was never one for church after getting out of the orphanage, but he always wanted to go to Mass with me on Christmas Eve. Then we'd go watch the ice skaters in Rockefeller Center and see the giant tree. We could never afford a tree ourselves… don't know where we would have put it in that little matchbox of an apartment. But Bucky always decorated. I worked my fingers numb making that damn popcorn garland that he wanted strung everywhere."

"That sounds terrible." Natasha teased, reaching back to cup the nape of his neck and pull him into a tangled embrace. His lips found her cheek before they separated again to tug off their tac suits.

They showered quickly, both eager to find out what else Bucky was up to. Steve was out of the shower first, not needing to bother with conditioner.

"Nat?" Steve called, his voice rich with amusement. "You've gotta see this."

"What?" She poked her head around the glass door see where Steve was pointing. She squinted as she wiped the water from her eyes and slicked her hair down against her neck.

Two sets of pajamas were hanging on the back of the door, both in a deep festive red that matched Bucky's. Steve just pointed and started laughing.

"You're kidding." she said with a slowly spreading grin. "That bastard bought us matching pajamas? This is seriously too cute for words. Who would have thought?"

Steve was still laughing as he finished drying off. His lack of surprise was palpable.

They both emerged, clad in their assigned pajamas to find that Bucky had ditched his white apron so the three of them matched. And they also found that he'd finished whatever he was working on at the hotplate and was pouring it up into oversized mugs.

It turned out to be hot chocolate. 

"This stuff is so much better than what I used to scrounge up for us in Brooklyn." Bucky said, inhaling the fragrant steam as he passed a mug to Natasha and Steve. "I may or may not have made a test mug or three when the order came in…"

"It's not like we knew any better back then." Steve said taking a sip and barely holding back a groan at how good it was. Bucky had spiced it with cinnamon and nutmeg, and something else neither of he could quite place in present context.

"Not until we passed that Christmas on the French border and Dernier managed to get us real hot chocolate." Bucky said, lifting his own mug. "Remember that? That stuff was heaven."

"Oh I'll bet." Natasha opined.

"No Christmas traditions growing up for you, I take it." Bucky said, inclining his head to indicate they should move to the couch.

"No…" she drew the word out a little. "No Christmas at all in the Red Room. I take it hot chocolate was your tradition?"

"When we could get it." Bucky replied. "Which to be fair… I think there was only one year after you moved in that we did without because the rationing got so tight. I made cider that year with whiskey I… uh… _procured_ from the dockyard. Wasn't bad. But it wasn't hot chocolate."

"It was always great, Buck." Steve assured him, slipping his arm around his waist. "Besides, the whiskey came in handy, remember? Because that was the year I came down with pneumonia."

"Oh yeah…" Bucky nodded before suddenly perking up. "Hey, you wanna open presents?" he asked, grinning up at both of them.

"Sure." Steve said a little self-consciously. "We uh… we might've let the calendar get away from us and-"

"Seriously, I don't care that you didn't get me anything. You're home. You're both home. And for Christmas, no less. That's all that matters." Bucky said, pushing his face against the crook of Steve's neck. 

Natasha followed Bucky into Steve's embrace, and Steve, with his broad shoulders, folded easily around the both of them. Together they heaved a sigh laced with a breath they hadn't quite been aware they were holding.

_Home._

Bucky had finally said something that Steve and Natasha had avoided saying out loud for months. That this was home now. Maybe not the Wakandan palace specifically. But any place where they were together. That was the roof and four walls now. Not to mention the foundation. The place where they would all plant their feet to turn and fight...

"Presents." Bucky prompted, as if he could hear their thoughts churning. "And cookies! I made cookies. And they actually turned out, unlike the disaster that one Christmas where I tried to make your mom's cookies with our severely rationed sugar and butter, and nearly smoked us out of the flat."

Something sparkled in Steve's eyes when Bucky said he remembered something as small as his mom's Christmas cookies. And he laughed aloud at the memory, his hand falling across his chest as if to contain the sound. "How did we not get thrown out of that place?"

"I don't know. But thank God for Google. I managed to find a recipe that was similar to what I remember. Might not be perfect, but it's close." He tugged a small plate out from behind the stack of presents. It was covered in walnut sized biscuits, each filled with a small dot of some kind of bright red jam.

"Help yourself!" Bucky gestured with his mug. "Seriously, I made way too many. But what the hell... it's Christmas!"

Steve and Natasha didn't need to be told twice. A month of MREs had them desperate for anything with real flavor. The cookies were spiced with so much bright and peppery ginger that Natasha's nose wrinkled delightfully around the first bite before the velvety jam broke across her palate. Both she and Steve moaned audibly around the first bite. 

And while they ate, Bucky doled out presents. Only a few boxes each, but it seemed like a mountain considering they'd forgotten about Christmas entirely in the wake of the mission.

"Any particular order?" Natasha asked, already with a box in hand and rattling it against her ear with a very serious and earnest expression.

"Nope… go for it. Rip, shred, and destroy." Bucky encouraged with a teasing grin, retrieving his hot chocolate once more to keep it out of the fray. "Actually, though. Steve, save that biggest box for last." He nodded to the box that was about two feet square.

There were matching boxes first, and Steve and Natasha opened them together as Bucky looked on with unfiltered glee. The boxes opened to reveal matching convertible sleeping bags that could serve as blankets, tents, or pillows depending on the configuration. 

"The cots on the Quinjets were abysmal," Bucky said by way of explanation. "So Shuri helped me out with these. It's a design Nakia uses out in the field, but I had some removable insulation added since y'know… it gets cold in some of the places you go. I hope this makes missions at least a little more comfortable."

"Thanks, Buck." Steve said, with a bit of awe in his voice.

"Yeah… these are great! I almost want to take them down to the jet now." Natasha said, hugging hers to her chest to feel the give in the soft fleece. However more presents won out over that idea.

Next were a slew of little packages each containing all sorts of small treats, each individually wrapped so there would be more to open. Steve remembered that trick, the fondness spreading through his limbs as he recalled the meager Christmases back in Brooklyn and how Bucky seemed to be able to stretch everything to make it seem as lavish as possible.

Steve's little stash of goodies turned out to be a selection of old fashioned candy. Zagnut bars. Valomilks. Skybars. Nonpareils. Gummy fruit slices. Candy buttons. All his old favorites growing up.

"Where did you get all this stuff, Buck?" Steve asked, marveling at the lapful of delicious memories he'd been given. "I didn't even think they still made half of it.”

"The internet is amazing." came the grinning reply.

For Natasha, things were a little less sweet but no less sentimental. Tins of cookies and boxes of tea. Several little jewel-like bottles of vodka-based liquors she called "nastoiki" and seemed particularly excited about. And lastly there was a very plain but strangely designed knife nestled in a small box. Natasha lifted it up and unsheathed the thin blade, examining it and the finger holes that looped along the handle.

"Is that…" Steve sat forward, already halfway through unwrapping one of his candy bars. "That's an old trench knife."

"It's _my_ old trench knife." Bucky corrected with a proud smile.

Steve blinked twice. "But… how on earth did you-"

Bucky did his level best to look sheepish and contrite but the pull of his lips only made him seem sly. "I might've nicked it one night after the Smithsonian had closed."

"Bucky!"

"What?" he said with a shrug, helping himself to a cookie. "You stole your whole damn uniform to come kick my ass, Rogers! Probably got the poor night guard fired. So don't get all holier-than-thou with me."

"This is your trench knife? From World War 2?" Natasha asked, still holding the blade carefully across both hands. "I-"

"I wanted it in the hands of someone who would get some use out of it. Not rusting away in some case at a museum." Bucky cut her off. "Steve's not going to stab someone when he would already be close enough to beat them within an inch of their lives. And besides. I stuck it between plenty of Nazi and HYDRA ribs back in the day, watching his six. Figure that's your job now."

Natasha stared at the drab old knife with its star-bright edge for a moment before giving one of her curt nods and slipping the blade back in its sheath. "I'll consider it a standing order."

Bucky smiled and leaned over to catch the dour line of her lips with his, feeling her soften once more at the contact. "You didn't need me telling you to do it."

"Mmm…" she hummed against his mouth, a smile creeping between them. "It's nice that you did, though."

"Well, the big one is all that's left." Steve said, nudging the large red package by his feet.

"It's kind of for all of us, but I think you're the one that's been missing it the most." Bucky said, making a gallant gesture to prompt Steve to pull the gift up into his lap. It was surprisingly heavy compared to the rest of the gifts. The paper peeled back to reveal an old fashioned glass-cased turntable. Just like the one Steve had in his apartment in D.C.

Just like the one they'd had in their flat back in Brooklyn.

"Bucky…" Steve could always put so much emotion into just that name, but this time…

"And I've got records to go with it." Bucky said, beaming brighter than the sun. "May I?" He held out his hands.

Steve handed him the case and let him cart it off to hook it up on the sound system. He turned to catch Natasha's eye and together they just mouthed the word, "Wow" before dissolving into giggles. She fell across his chest, sheathed knife still in her hand. She laid it over his heart as he drew her close.

"Are you sure you shouldn't have this?" She asked looking first at the knife and then up at him. Steve was almost taken aback at her expression. It was one he hadn't seen in a long long time. Not since everything in Berlin, when he'd turned his back on the Avengers and she'd come with him. It was a sort of sweet, wide-eyed openness that he'd come to think of as her emotional thinking face. The expression she had when she didn't quite know how to react to what was happening around her. Or perhaps more accurately, didn’t quite know how to feel about it.

Steve shook his head, dipping to catch her mouth with his. "He gave it to you, and he gave it to you for a reason."

She smiled then, the expression spreading slow and liquid across her face as she settled deeper against his chest. Her fingers looped smoothly through the knuckle guard on the knife, skin turning white as she gripped it tightly.

"What?" Steve asked bumping their noses together before reaching over and grabbing a cookie. 

"It's Christmas." she said, glancing around at the lights before deciding she liked the way they reflected in Steve's ridiculously blue eyes better than actually looking at them.

"It is." Steve agreed, taking a bite of his cookie before feeding the other half to Natasha.

She chewed and swallowed before giving him another ginger-flavored kiss. "What did we ever do to deserve all this?" she whispered in a wondering voice.

"We were really good this year, I guess." Steve shrugged.

She laughed before her eyes settled on Bucky as he flipped through a small stack of records he'd apparently stashed by the sound system before they'd arrived. "What did we do to deserve him?"

She looked back up at Steve, seeing his eyes go sweet and glassy as he watched Bucky. "I dunno." he replied wistfully, but then his lips twisted in a wry grin. "I think the better question is what did he do to get saddled with us?"

Natasha snorted, but could do nothing more than agree.

Music filtered through the speakers. Familiar strains from an orchestra followed by a man's voice smoothly crooning a melody that was at once blissful and tinged with melancholy. Bucky crossed to both of them and held out his hand. They set down their mugs and presents and stood, moving to bracket Bucky on either side as the song began in earnest.

_I'll be home for Christmas._  
_You can plan on me._  
_Please have snow and mistletoe_  
_And presents on the tree._

"Merry Christmas, guys." Bucky whispered, leaning back a little to look up at Steve, who'd draped himself over his back and wrapped his arms easily around both Bucky and Natasha as they swayed together.

"Merry Christmas, Buck." Steve breathed the words out against his hair. "Sorry we didn't get you anything."

"I got you to dance." He replied with an honest to goodness giggle. "How many years did I try to get you out on the dance floor?"

"Too many." Steve replied, taking Natasha's hand and spinning them out into a line before reeling them back in with Natasha in the middle this time. They fell together like it was the most natural thing in the world. It always had been that way with the three of them, right from the very start.

_Christmas Eve will find me_  
_Where the lovelight gleams._  
_I'll be home for Christmas,_  
_If only in my dreams_

"I'm just glad you're home." Bucky said, tugging both of them closer and tucking Natasha under his chin.

There was that word again. The one they never ever used, but suddenly wanted to.

_Home._

"So are we." Natasha replied, words warm against the hollow of Bucky's neck.

"Yeah." Steve agreed, leaning to catch Bucky's lips over top of Natasha's head. His mouth still tasted of hot chocolate and jam cookies and just… him. And Steve lingered, licking lazily into his mouth as Natasha, not to be left out, twisted to lay a trail of kisses up the side of his throat. 

Bucky's knees gave a little as he swooned into the attention. Steve's mouth quirked in a freshly salacious grin against his as he started leading them back towards the bed where they fell in a practiced heap with Bucky in the center. He moved incoherently between them, chasing their hands, their mouths, and the press of their bodies against his. And Steve and Natasha followed his lead until they were all three practically melded together in a grasping, greedy tangle. 

The tune on the record player switched to something cheery and upbeat, and Bucky smiled into the thorough kiss he was getting from Steve. "Christmas music doing it for you, Rogers?"

"Oh no." Steve shot back kissing him again, hard with a filthy slip of tongue past his teeth that had Bucky chasing more. "This is all about you. We didn't get you presents. So at least let us show you a good time."

"Show me a good time, huh?" Bucky taunted, reaching back to pull Natasha flush against the curve of his ass. "And you've got a plan I take it?"

Steve had been about to shrug when Natasha's voice purred into his ear. "I've got a few ideas. If you're both amenable."

Steve and Bucky exchanged intrigued expressions before Bucky leaned back into the crook of her neck. "Do tell, Natasha." he whispered.

"It's been awhile since I sucked you off." she said trying to hide her blown pupils and flushed cheeks with demure tip of her chin and a nonchalant lift of her shoulders. "But y'know… We could do something else-"

Bucky stimeyed the rest of the sentence with a fervent, if slightly off-centered kiss. "No, I like the sound of that." he said, wriggling around so he was facing her, with Steve spooned up against his back. "That is, if Steve won't feel left out."

"Oh I'm sure I'll be plenty entertained." He shot Natasha a sly wink. "Besides, I may or may not have taken advantage of certain opportunities in the field when Sam and Wanda drew watch together. So it's definitely your turn."

"Seriously? You couldn't keep your hands to yourself? Even on mission?"

"First of all, you're one to talk. And Bucky, look at her and tell me you could have behaved yourself?" Bucky followed his instructions, eyes raking over her pretty face as she caught her bottom lip in her teeth. She always did know how to make a show of herself, even in the subtlest of ways. And never shrank from the opportunity. 

Steve leaned closer, his breath ghosting over the shell of Bucky's ear. "And I never said it was just my hands."

Bucky groaned at his words as Natasha palmed him through his sleep pants. She hummed with approval when she felt he was already growing thick and hard, the thin cotton of the pajamas hiding next to nothing. Especially since a wet spot had already begun to form under the heel of her hand. She pushed on his artificial shoulder as she kissed him, and he fell back across Steve in a boneless heap. Steve gathered him up as Natasha followed the motion. Her lips drifted lower, kissing the hollow of his throat, nipping at the buttons on his pajamas, and pulling playfully at the waistband of the sleep pants. 

Steve turned Bucky's head to capture his lips in a slow kiss, made messy by passion and the awkward angle. "You want me to tell you about her sucking me off in Laos?" Steve whispered into Bucky's panting mouth.

"Yesss…" the word hissed out between his clenched teeth as Natasha kissed the growing bulge between his legs. He made to thread his hand into her hair, but Steve caught him and laced their fingers together. He pulled Bucky's arm across his chest as he pulled him back tightly against him. Bucky's chest heaved against the constriction but he didn't struggle.

"Let her work." Steve chastised playfully. "You know you always like it slow anyway." The only response from Bucky was a moan which Steve eagerly swallowed.

"Oh, I like this." Natasha opined, her voice husky and dark. Bucky groaned again into Steve's open, hungry mouth as he felt the heat of her breath on his throbbing length, even through his clothes.

"Oh you do, do you?" Steve teased as he kissed his way down Bucky's neck.

"You should see him from this angle, Steve. How you've got him all spread out for me. He looks gorgeous." She purred the praise against the cut lines of his stomach, where his waistband crossed the arch of his hips. His skin shuddered and pricked with goosebumps as she mixed her words with gentle caresses of teeth and lips.

"Steve…" The name on Bucky's lips was a thing wrought of pure need. "Tell me about Laos?"

A lazy, catlike smile pulled at Steve's mouth as he caught Natasha's eye. They both shared a lazy wink that Bucky, with his head thrown back on Steve's shoulder, didn't see. They were going to milk this for all it was worth… together. Bucky deserved that much.

"She was a tease." Steve whispered the words against the arch of Bucky's ear. "Shock of shocks. Teased me even when we might get caught."

Natasha let the recollection of that night a few weeks back fall over her shoulders and her mind like the heaviest, and most luxurious blanket. Let Steve's words steer her actions as she gazed up at them. Bucky really did look exquisite like this. Wanton and panting just from words and a few kisses. She kissed the swelling bulge in his pants again, feeling his hips cant towards her mouth, which she rewarded with only more teasing; her lips wrapped over the outline of his cock, and her hot breath against his shaft which jumped in time with his pulse.

"But that doesn't mean she was patient. Once the door was closed, she practically tackled me to the bedroll." Steve went on, his free hand starting to wander, finding Bucky's nipple through the thin cotton and rolling it lightly. That sent a new timbre of needy sounds crawling up Bucky's throat. "She pulled my pants open and once I felt her mouth on me, I couldn't do anything but just lay there."

Natasha took her cue, and slowly worked down the waistband of Bucky's pajamas until the flushed head of his cock peeked out. She immediately set her lips on it. No suction. No pressure. Just warm and wet, with the flat of her tongue working the slit with delicate little strokes.

Bucky reacted instantly, his back bowing against Steve, making him grip his shoulders tighter. "Yeah, that's what I did. Had to stuff my fist in my mouth to keep quiet so the others didn't hear. God, her mouth feels so good, doesn't it, Buck? All hot and slick?" Bucky could only nod, his mouth having fallen open and slack as he gasped for air. "I don't know how she does it. She can build it up so good. So slow. I'm getting hard just thinking about it…" Bucky made an intrigued little sound, a smile ghosting at his lips before another swipe of Natasha's tongue pinched his brow and chased another groan up out of his throat.

Natasha didn't think she'd ever get used to hearing Captain America talk dirty, or that it would ever fail to do it for her. Those pretty, plush, kiss-reddened lips whispering filthy things like that would be a thing for her until her deathbed. Just listening to him now, she could feel coils of desire looping in on themselves down low in her core as she felt her pussy going slick. She was definitely going to need some attention of her own tonight before all was said and done.

But Bucky's pleasure was first. And she planned to live up to the praise Steve was giving her previous performance. She let the flare of Bucky's cockhead slip past her lips, her clever tongue working up the underside along the sensitive ridge there. She let the waistband slip down further, still keeping his erection mostly covered save where her mouth was working over his length. She looked up to Steve, imploring him with heated eyes to continue his lurid tale.

"I wanted her so bad, Buck." he said, his hand trailing lower along Bucky's ribs. "I'd been thinking about how bad I wanted her all day, and it was like she knew. She knew exactly how I needed it. How I _wanted_ it, Buck. How much I wanted to feel her…" 

Steve's eyes were still on hers, and she was very much aware that he wasn't just talking for show. That she was likely going to get the plowing of her life once she sucked Bucky off. That sent a little thrill sparking through her gut, and she felt her inner walls give a squeeze around nothing in response. God, Steve's cock was going to be amazing… it always was.

But first things first. Her lips slipped down another inch until the head of Bucky's cock brushed the roof of her mouth. The change in texture made him writhe anew, another breathy moan crawling up his throat. Natasha's mouth watered as a fresh spurt of precome dripped across her tongue, and she worked it to her advantage, slicking up the half of his shaft she had exposed with two long pulls of her ridiculously hot mouth.

"Fuck, Natasha…" Bucky ground the words out as his fingers tightened around Steve's hand.

"She feels so good, doesn't she? I don't know how they didn't catch us in Laos. I was so far gone." Steve went on as Natasha worked herself lower and lower. And eventually she'd peeled back his pajamas like wrapping paper, and sucked nearly the entirety of his length into her mouth.

Nearly.

That was when she pulled two deep breaths into her lungs before sucking him deeper. Until the slickness of the back of her throat enveloped the head of his cock, and her nose was pressed into the trail of dark hair leading up to his navel. Until he could feel her throat convulsing as she swallowed again and again around his throbbing length. He stopped making sound after that. It was all he could do to keep breathing as every nerve in his body felt like it had been lit aflame. 

"God, I love it when she does that." Steve said softly, watching her all the while. "Takes me all the way down like that? It's amazing. It _feels_ amazing. And I just…" 

Natasha felt a hand in her hair, and she realized belatedly as she moaned around Bucky's cock that it was Steve's. Steve still had Bucky's hand pinned against his chest. She pulled back a fraction. Just enough to make eye contact as she leaned into the touch of his fingers, which tightened almost imperceptibly in response. 

"I just… the things she makes me want to do. She makes me just want to take and take and take, because she gives and gives and gives…"

Natasha felt his hand gently cup the back of her head and she took another deep breath before letting Steve guide her back down on Bucky's cock again. She held onto Bucky's shuddering hips, feeling him fight the urge to thrust. Together with Steve she set up a rhythm. Deep breaths of air, followed by long, convulsing pulls from the slick clutch of her throat. Repeat. And each repetition drove Bucky's desperation higher and higher. 

"You want to come like this?" Steve asked, his nose pressed to the hollow of Bucky's throat.

"Did you?" The words were skeletal without more than a gasp of air behind them.

"Oh yeah, Buck. All the way down her throat." Steve purred. "She wanted me to."

Bucky gave a stuttering, strangled shout and came almost as if it had been a command. The sound was all the warning Natasha got, but she was prepared. She'd coaxed him up slow, so she knew he'd go off like a shot. Steve held her as she sucked him through it, petting her hair and stroking her cheek. Even touching her lips where they sealed around Bucky's length, still sucking him until he'd gone totally soft.

"Jesus." Bucky half moaned, as Natasha tucked his pajamas back up and crawled back up to join them. "You're amazing." He kissed her quickly. "It really is a wonder that Sam and Wanda didn't hear you. I don't think I could have kept quiet if you had paid me."

"I barely did." Steve said. "And I have no intention of coming quietly tonight. Mind helping her get undressed? I think it's our turn." Steve rolled out of bed and paced around to the other side. Natasha and Bucky followed him, both with warm smiles, though Natasha's was far more flinty and hungry.

Bucky turned Natasha so that she was spooned up in front of him and started worrying one handed at the buttons on her pajamas. She pulled off her sleep pants and underwear with a practiced motion, tossing them over the side of the bed. They were focused on each other, trading kisses and devouring the tiny sounds each of them made, until they saw Steve who waited patiently at the edge of the bed for them to finish being distracted.

Once he had their attention, Steve made a damned spectacle of stripping out of his pajamas. First the shirt, button by button, letting the enticing lines of his thickly muscled body peek through at opportune moments. Then his pants in one smooth motion so that the heavy length of his cock sprang up towards his stomach with a wet slap that made Natasha's mouth start watering all over again. To say nothing of what it did between her legs.

"Has he always been like this?" Natasha asked as she watched Steve run his fingers through his shaggy hair and trail down over the taut lines of his body.

"I'm pretty sure this one is on you." Bucky said, eyes glued to the display playing out before them as his fingers slipped between her thighs. "He never did shit like this back in the forties."

"I'll gladly take the blame in this case at least." Natasha said a little breathily, curling her hips towards the caress.

"Mmm…" Bucky hummed playfully, burying his nose against her hair as his fingers slipped lower along the slick folds of her pussy. "She's so wet, Steve. It's almost like she wants something?" 

"Get a finger on her clit and I'm pretty sure she'd tell you exactly what she wants." Steve said, taking himself in hand and drawing the length of his cock through a loose fist.

Natasha sucked in a breath through clenched teeth when Bucky's fingers found the slippery, sensitive little nub and began to tease it in tight circles. Natasha chased his touch, moaning in frustration when no matter how she wriggled and writhed, she couldn't get enough pressure to really get anywhere. Bucky's catlike smile grew teeth. 

"You're awfully impatient tonight." Bucky opined in an amused tone.

"You were practically begging to come less than five minutes ago." Natasha gasped the words out as she fumbled for his hand, hoping to buy herself a little more friction. If only she could just get him to cooperate...

Steve knelt on the bed, pushing her her knees apart with his thickly cabled thighs. Not that it took much effort. Her legs practically fell open as he draped himself over her body. "Keep going." Steve said to Bucky, a sweet roughness coloring his voice as she head of his cock rubbed along the folds of her pussy. "I want to drive her as crazy as she drove me."

"You're half-way there." Natasha replied breathlessly.

"Well… when have I ever done anything halfway?" Steve asked, his voice dark and richly honey sweet. He dropped onto his elbows and thrust his full length into the damp, shuddering heat of her body in a single, precise thrust.

Natasha bowed between them. Her hips curled towards Steve eating up every thick inch of his length as she arched back over Bucky's chest. Steve thrust twice, long and languid before he set up a powerful, nearly punishing rhythm. Each deep stroke pushed all the air out of Natasha's body in breathy gasps that Bucky drank from her lips like water from an oasis. And his fingers were still busy on her clit, pulling those tight little circles around and around in rhythm with Steve's percussive thrusts.

What had been a slow, liquid heat building in the pit of Natasha's stomach suddenly roared to positively incandescent light. Her skin felt hot and bare and at least three sizes too small anywhere that wasn't touching Steve or Bucky. She wrapped herself around Steve, pulling Bucky with her as she bucked up into his thrusts.

"Steve…" she whined against his throat, the scruff of his beard tickling her face. "More... "

"I've got you." he whispered, all bravado briefly vanishing from him, as quickly as a passing thunderstorm. "We're not going to stop." He cut a meaningful look to Bucky who nodded in response before burying his face in her hair and laying a series of wet, open mouthed kisses up the side of her neck. "We're going to give you what you need. Is this what you need? How you want it?"

"Yessss…" The word turned sibilant as she arched into their bodies again. 

"You're getting close, yeah?"

"Mmhmm…"

"We've got you." Steve breathed the words against her throbbing temple before pressing a kiss there. His hips never gave up their heavy, pistoning rhythm. Again and again he drove himself into her with precise strokes that had her gasping and writhing under him.

Her hands seized against his back, nails setting into his shoulders just enough to bite and he redoubled his efforts. Not harder or faster necessarily, but deeper. Fuller strokes that seemed to connect with every pleasure circuit in Natasha's body, and she rode those thrusts with canted, open hips. Over and over like waves on a beach, carrying her higher and higher until finally, she tipped past the point of no return.

It was her turn to shout in shock, as the scalding wave of pleasure rippled out under her skin. She moaned their names over and over like a litany as Steve fucked her through it, and as Bucky coaxed every last spark out of her clit until she was just a boneless heap of twitching synapses between them. Steve followed right on her heels, the shocked shuddering of her inner walls milking out an orgasm that ended with him collapsed and groaning on top of both of them. It was all Natasha could do to keep herself wrapped around him until their aftershocks subsided.

"Alright so…" Natasha started, but had to pause to catch her breath. "So, we may not have had any Christmas traditions in the Red Room. But I'm thinking that hot chocolate and even hotter sex to Christmas music might need to be ours."

"It certainly would make it my favorite holiday." Steve said, pulling them all over onto their sides.

"It's always been your favorite holiday, Rogers." Bucky laughed, propping himself up on his elbow.

"When did I ever say that?"

"Because we always went nuts on Christmas Eve." Bucky replied.

"Bullshit, you jerk." Steve shot back. "We always went nuts at Christmas because it was _your_ favorite holiday."

"What? No way, punk! I thought it was yours."

"And I thought it was yours!"

"Well, from here on in," Natasha said, turning and kissing each of them in turn before flopping back down on the pillow between them with a highly satisfied grin. "It's definitely mine."

***

**Author's Note:**

> Come flail with me on Tumblr at @littlethingwithfeathers.


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